Portales soccer sweeps Artesia

The Portales boys and girls shut out the Artesia junior varsity on the Portales soccer pitch Thursday, sweeping Artesia in advance of a rain storm.

The Rams took a quick 1-0 lead in the first half thanks to a Martin Santebanez goal.

“I thought we played pretty well,” Ram assistant coach Scott Parker said. “I thought the first 10, 12 or 14 minutes we didn’t get after it, and then as the game wore on, we got better.”

The Rams did get better in the second half as Tyler Anderson and Kevin Welch each scored and the Rams beat the Bulldogs 3-0.

“Our midfield wasn’t playing really good early,” Parker said. “We started winning some battles in the mid area and then we moved Tyler up to the front. (He’s) got a lot of speed and we got the ball up to him and made some things happen.”

The girls played just over one half before the rain and lightning ended the match, but not before Portales’ Marissa Best beat the Artesia goal keeper to win the shortened match for the Lady Rams 1-0.

“They played hard and they’re starting to do a lot of things right,” Portales head soccer coach Traci Sievers said. “(Marissa’s) a real good shooter and a real good finisher.”

The Rams and Lady Rams begin their 3A schedule Saturday when they travel to Hatch. The girls play at 1 p.m. while the boys play at 3 p.m.